Roman Museums

Relive life along the wall

From incredible Roman finds dating back 2,000 years, to state-of-the-art computer graphics recreating the Wall, take your pick of museums that bring to life Roman history and the Wall itself.

Roman Army Museum

Roman Army Museum

Next to Walltown Crags, one of the highest standing sections of Hadrian’s Wall, the Roman Army Museum brings alive what life was like for Roman soldiers.

Explore three galleries packed with artefacts including the only Roman helmet crest to be excavated. Be swept back in time 2,000 years by the dazzlingly life-life 3D film, Eagle’s Eye which recreates epic views of the Wall.

Vindolanda site museum

Home to extraordinarily well preserved finds including leather shoes, hair combs and jewellery, Vindolanda is home to many treasures. The biggest being the Vindolanda Writing Tablets.

Preserved in peat, these fragments of wood with their jotted messages include a complaint about roads, a soldier's letter home requesting more socks and a reply to a party invitation from a woman to her friend – thought to be the first example of female handwriting. While they are too fragile to be on display, a film tells the story of their discovery.

Alongside the Roman ruins at Corbridge, where the Emperor Hadrian is thought to have stayed, is Corbridge Roman Museum. See the Corbridge 'Hoard', a display of armour and the belongings of a Roman soldier described as one of the most influential Roman 'time capsules' ever discovered in Hadrian's Wall Country. See the famous lion of Corbridge, a stone fountainhead on the site as well.